The Dursleys at Hogwarts
by Saphella-Of-Midnight
Summary: Mr. and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. But that was before things changed.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. I hope you like it. I know it's short, but I'll post more soon. Please read and review!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Or the Dursleys.**

Mr. and Mrs Dursley were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. But that was before things changed.

The year after the downfall of Lord Voldemort, the Dursleys were sitting in the living room, watching television in silence. Outside the tightly drawn curtains, the sun was setting behind the grey clouds and the street was silent except for the sound of the birds.

When the sound of one particular bird's wing beats grew ominously close, all of the Dursleys looked up nervously.

"Dad…" Dudley began, edging away from the window. A tapping noise began, gentle at first, but fast becoming more urgent. Petunia and Vernon exchanged worried glances.

"Don't worry, Petunia, I'll sort this out," Vernon said with false bravado. He rose from his chair with difficulty, dumping his newspaper on the floor as he did so, and picked up Dudley's long disused Smeltings stick. With a look back at his wife and daughter, hoping for their support, he began to edge towards the window. The tapping noise was much louder now and would soon begin to arouse the neighbours' attention if they weren't careful. And that was the last thing they needed, Vernon thought. They'd only just got rid of that boy, and now here they were being bothered again.

"It'd better not be another orphan," he muttered. He took a deep breath and then he had no excuse to put it off for one more second. He ripped open the delicate curtains and brandished the stick.

A tawny owl was sitting impatiently on the windowsill outside. It paused for a second, looking up at Vernon expectantly before resuming its frenzied tapping of its beak on the window. Vernon turned to his family uneasily. Petunia nodded at him, grabbing Dudley's fat wrist with both hands and backing into the corner. Vernon took yet another deep breath and reluctantly opened the window.

The owl hopped lightly into the room and refolded its wings. Petunia winced as a single withered feather glided down onto the immaculate carpet. The bird stuck out its leg, to which a letter was tied. Vernon turned back to his family again. Petunia nodded vigorously whilst backing even further into the corner and he tentatively untied the knot with trembling fingers. He turned it over and the seal brought a wave of déjà vu with it. He had seen that exact same symbol on hundreds, if not thousands, of letters almost exactly eight years ago. He opened the letter agonisingly slowly.

"Dear Mr., Mrs and Master Dursley,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted…"

Vernon's face turned red, then yellow, and then deathly pale and he staggered before falling to the floor in a faint.


	2. Return of an Old Friend

**Hi, here's chapter two. A big 'thank you' to Nyslirthe for the review! Everyone else, please write a review, whether you like the fanfic or not. Eternal gratitude and cyber cookies to anyone who does!**

**-Saphella**

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

Petunia and Dudley cautiously bent over Vernon and gently shook him. His eyes fluttered open briefly, but his face remained a zombie-like grey.

"The letter, Petunia, the letter," he moaned.

Gingerly, as though afraid that it might be poisoned, Petunia picked up the letter from the floor and opened it. Her eyes moved silently across the page as she read and re-read the letter, her face turning even paler than her husbands.

"Mum?" Dudley asked, panicking. "What is it? Are they coming for us?"

Petunia would have had to sit down if she hadn't been kneeling on the floor already. She didn't seem to hear her son and her eyes remained on the parchment, staring in shock and disbelief at the words elegantly inked onto it.

"Mum?" Dudley repeated, more urgently this time. "What is it? Are you going to faint to?"

Petunia's eyes lingered on those fated words. "_You have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry._" She had seen almost exactly the same letter before, once addressed to her sister and many times addressed to her nephew. Only a few words were different, the mark of a new head teacher, the logical part of her mind suggested in an attempt to revive itself. How could she be seeing it again, addressed not to a disowned child, but to her, her husband and her son? Dudley was eighteen now, far too old, and as for her… well, it didn't take a mathematician to do the sums.

"Mum?"

Dudley waved a hand in front of her face, blocking out the letter for a second. She finally remembered to blink and then she looked back at the words of the parchment as though blinking might have changed them.

"Petunia?" It was Vernon interrupting her thoughts this time. "What are they thinking? Is it… punishment? From the boy?"

"I don't know," Petunia managed to whisper.

"No," Dudley said. His voice was somewhat louder than usual and made Petunia jump.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked, recovering quickly.

"Harry wouldn't do that," Dudley explained, blushing slightly.

"What makes you think that, son?" Vernon asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder awkwardly. "You know that boy's no good."

"He saved my life!" Dudley said, pushing Vernon's hand off him. "He saved all of our lives, and we never did one thing to thank him. Besides, he's not got the time to think of pranks, even if he did want to."

"Rubbish…" Vernon began. A look of comprehension dawned on his face. Sometimes, Dudley thought, watching his father's expressions was funnier than TV.

"Hang on," Vernon continued, "how do you know he's not got the time? Have you been in contact with him?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Vernon, Dudders hardly ever gets letters," Petunia protested.

"His owl takes them," Dudley burst out. "His owl brings his letters and takes my replies back."

Vernon and Petunia stared at him.

"His…" Vernon stammered.

"You…" Petunia whispered weakly.

"Yes, and I'm not ashamed," Dudley declared. He belatedly paused for dramatic effect. "So what does the letter say?" he asked again.

Petunia wordlessly passed him the letter and he struggled to read it.

"What? How…?" Dudley's face went through all the colour changes that his father's had, but he managed to miss out the fainting stage.

"But we're too old," he said, looking at Petunia. "Mum, I thought they left school at seventeen?"

"Hang on," Vernon said suddenly, grabbing the letter off Dudley with force that threatened to tear it. "What does this say on the back?"

Petunia looked over his shoulder as he read it.

"A representative of the school will visit to more fully inform you of arrangements at nine thirty-seven PM precisely."

This writing was untidy, as though someone had scribbled it as an afterthought.

"What time is it now?" Vernon asked, petrified. All of their eyes turned towards the clock in the corner of the forgotten television screen.

"Vernon…" Petunia whispered. "That's in five seconds."

_Four… three… two… one… _They counted in their heads, frozen in place.

BANG!

The noise came from the hall and Vernon crawled around the corner at Petunia's silent urging and hand-flapping.

"Sorry about that!"

Rubeus Hagrid picked up the front door and replaced it in the space where it had stood for all of its life. He turned to face Vernon.

"Any chance of a cuppa?" he asked.


	3. The Dursleys' Decision

**Hi, thanks to Locotumbler and DarkestAngel13 for the reviews! (Hands over eternal gratitude.) I'm glad you liked it. Just to clarify, it's set the year after Deathly Hallows. Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: not mine**

The Dursleys froze in shock at the sound of Hagrid's voice, heard now after years of peace. He walked forwards, saw the family huddled together of the floor and snorted.

"What're you doin' down there?" he asked. "As if yer lot aren' short enough already."

They managed to scramble to their feet and they stood in an awkward line. Dudley's hands hovered over his backside as he remembered his past experience of this half-giant.

"Well, are yer gonna sit down or not?" Hagrid asked. "And what about that cup o' tea? Though I wouldn' say no to somethin' stronger."

Petunia squeaked something and ran to the kitchen. Vernon and Dudley cautiously sank onto the sofa. Hagrid squashed himself into Petunia's favourite armchair, which creaked warningly under his weight. He paid no attention to it.

"So, how've yer been?" he asked in an attempt to make conversation. "Blimey, Dudley, you've grown. Seems like yesterday you were this high. O' course, yer cousin's done the same. I remember when you were little. Good times, eh? Good times."

Dudley mumbled something unintelligible.

"An' Vernon," the half-giant continued, "you've got quieter! What happened to tha' gun of yours? Thrown it out, have yer?"

Vernon looked at the floor.

"What's the matter with y'all?" Hagrid asked, bewildered as the silence stretched on. "Cat got yer tongues?"

"No, sir," Dudley managed to mumble.

"Aren't yer excited?" Hagrid asked. "Not every day yer get accepted to Hogwarts."

"I'm not going!" Vernon burst out. "All that time we tried to beat it out of that boy, we're not suffering anything of the kind ever again!"

"Oh, don' be ridiculous. O' course yer goin'. It's the law, for a start."

"I said I'm not going! Who are you to command me?" Vernon yelled so loudly that Petunia ran into the room, bearing a baseball bat as a weapon.

"Didn't I introduce myself? I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' Keys an' Grounds at Hogwarts, Professor of Care o' Magical Creatures and," he inflated his chest proudly, "Assistant t' the Headmistress. But yer lot can call me Hagrid- everyone does."

"Look, don't you think you can boss me around," Vernon argued. "Just because you're a stupid teacher, doesn't mean you can lord it over us. We're adults, and I'm my own person."

"Dad," Dudley interrupted suddenly. "I'd like to go."

Vernon looked lost for words.

"Great kid, Dudley," Hagrid said approvingly. "I might admit, ah had my doubts when Harry told me you'd reformed, but you've jus' proved me wrong. Great kid."

"Dudley…" Vernon stammered.

Petunia hesitated for a few seconds of eternity. Hadn't she written to Dumbledore to beg him to take her before? Had things really changed so much that she would refuse this opportunity now? Yes, she decided with an effort of will. Things were different now. She was nearly forty years older for a start. Forty years wiser.

She opened her mouth to tell Hagrid her decision, but Dudley's eyes, uncharacteristically expressive, met hers. Could she really deny her boy something he wanted this much? Something she secretly desired too? Tears rose to her eyes.

"I'll go to," she whispered.

"What? Petunia!" Vernon's head snapped round to stare at her.

"I said I'll go, Vernon," she said, more strongly now that she was fully decided. "And I'd strongly advise you to as well." Vernon looked as though she'd hit him. She hardly ever used that tone of voice with him.

"But… I… Petunia…" he stammered. Hagrid clapped his hands, making them all jump.

"Right! Well, that's decided then," he pronounced. "Now, before you go an' get yer stuff, there's some stuff yer need to know. Yer've probably noticed yer a bit older than's usual."

Petunia and Dudley nodded slightly. Vernon stared at the floor unresponsively.

"Well, there'll be a few other people like yerselves who've started late," Hagrid continued, "so there's no need t' worry. Yer see, despite all those… _terrible_," Hagrid shuddered, "things that You Know Who did, he did discover somethin' very important."

"I'm sorry," Vernon mumbled, "but I _don't _know who."

Hagrid ignored him.

"As I was sayin', he discovered somethin' very important. He discovered that people with closed minds or emotions occasionally don' realise their powers until later in life when they become more responsive, or when a close relative inadvertently influences them with their powers. We've now made allowances fer tha' at Hogwarts, so yer'll star' with the firs' years like everyone else, only you'll be a bit bigger than the rest of them." Hagrid chuckled. "I had th' same problem myself."

"Hagrid…" Dudley began tentatively.

"No need to be nervous of me, Dudley," Hagrid told him. "What d'you think I'm gonna do to yer, give yer a tail?" He chuckled again. "Naw, those days are over now. We're on the same side now."

Dudley nodded.

"Hagrid, I think you've made a mistake. I _can't _be a wizard," he said quietly.

"Aw, come on. Haven't you ever made anything happen? Anythin' you couldn't explain, when you were angry, or… or upset?"

Dudley thought about it.

"I tore a hole in Dad's favourite trousers when he insulted Harry once," he suggested. Hagrid laughed.

"Great, son, you've got yer cousin's spirit, hidden beneath all those layers tha' bad parenting have put there." Hagrid laughed again. "So, how abou' we go an' get yer books?" he asked. When Vernon opened his mouth to argue, he casually pulled a pink umbrella from his many-pocketed coat and tapped it against his thigh. The Dursleys were silent.


	4. Shopping

Vernon mumbled something about going to get a drink and Petunia quickly nodded with forced enthusiasm. The two of them vanished out of sight, heading back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Petunia paused for a moment, turning round to look back at Dudley and Hagrid.

"Coming, Diddy boy?" she asked. Dudley hesitated, but shook his head. Petunia's eyes widened marginally, but she concealed her surprise and hurried off with Vernon without any further interrogation.

"Hagrid?" Dudley asked, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

"Mmm?" Hagrid was delving through his many pockets in search of something.

"Can I have that gold cauldron?"

"It says pewter on yer list!"

"But… gold's better, isn't it?" Dudley was polite, but insistent.

"It says pewter. Just cos yer cousin's given yer money, doesn' mean yer have t' spend it."

Dudley sighed and gave up, and Hagrid suddenly laughed so loudly that several people passing by turned and stared.

"Yer know," he explained as Dudley looked at him questioningly, "Harry was exactly the same. He wanted everything in th' stores."

"Oh." Was that a bad thing? No, Dudley decided. He should have been more like Harry from the start.

"Hagrid?" he asked.

"What now?" the half-giant asked. "You're not havin' tha' curse book!"

"No, it's not that. You know, my parents are probably running away."

"'spect they are," Hagrid said with a sigh. "But don' you worry, I've got friends who'll make sure they don' go anywhere."

Dudley opened his mouth and then closed it.

"Can I have a broomstick?" he asked after a moment.

"N- oh, alrigh' then. I s'pose no one's going ter shout a' yer for a broom. Yer are eighteen, after all."

Dudley's face lit up.

"Really?" he asked, remembering all of the enticing models in the shop window that he'd walked past, but not dared to ask Hagrid about.

"Yeah, go on, then. Yer cousin started on a Nimbus Two Thousand, but you'd probably be better on a Cleansweep or somethin' until yer've mastered the basics." Hagrid led the way towards the shop, Dudley running five paces for every one of his.

Ten minutes later, Dudley walked out of the shop (Hagrid had never fit through the door in the first place), bearing a long, thin package happily.

"I got the one you said to," he told Hagrid. Hagrid nodded.

"Yeah, what's left on yer list?"

Dudley checked.

"Just a wand." He smiled, because Hagrid had insisted on buying this essential item last.

"Alrigh' then, let's get goin'. Olivander's it is."

The shop was small and dimly lit, with boxes piled as high as the ceilings on all four walls. Olivander appeared almost instantly, looking tiny next to Hagrid.

"Ah, Mr. Dursley. Dudley Dursley. I've been expecting you."

Dudley instantly thought of James Bond, but nodded politely without voicing his thoughts. He wondered if his polite nod actually seemed polite. He hadn't given it much thought, or practice, before today. He might have offended a lot of people in the past hour if it looked rude.

"Seems like only yesterday that your cousin was here buying his first wand," Olivander was continuing. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple, it was. He did great things with that wand. He still is, in fact."

A floating tape measure began measuring Dudley in a hundred different places while he stood there uncomfortably.

"That's enough," Olivander said, seemingly to the tape measure, and it rolled up with a snap and dropped to the floor.

"Well now, let's try this one, then," Olivander said, pushing a wand into Dudley's limp hand.

"Oak, eight inches, dragon heartstring."

Dudley waved it, uncertain as to whether he was doing the right thing.

"No!"

Dudley jumped, afraid he'd done something terribly wrong.

"How about this one?" Olivander mused, taking the wand off him and replacing it with another.

"Hawthorn, twelve inches, unicorn tail hair, fairly whippy."

Dudley waved it more cautiously this time, but to the same result.

After a few repeats of this process, during which Olivander grew steadily happier and the amount of time he allowed Dudley to hold each wand decreased, Dudley acted on an urge he'd been feeling almost since entering the shop.

"Sir?" he asked hesitantly.

"Maple, dragon heartstring, no, definitely not… yes?"

"Please may I try that one?" Dudley pointed.

"What? That one? Yew, nine inches, phoenix feather?"

Olivander reached down the wand in question, took it out of the box and handed it to Dudley with excitement. Dudley waved it a bit.

"Anything?" the man asked him.

"No, nothing," Dudley said, disappointed, still uncertain as to what he was actually looking for. What if he'd missed the right wand for him?

Olivander whipped the wand out of his hand and went back to the shelf he'd got it from, pausing for a long few seconds.

"Aha!" he said suddenly. "There's one behind it! Oak, unicorn hair, fourteen inches."

Dudley found another wand in his hand within seconds, and this time stars flew from the end of it. He stepped back in surprise, but feeling exhilarated.

"I knew it!" Olivander exclaimed, putting the wand back into its box and putting that into a bag. Dudley instantly wanted to take it back.

"Strange, though, that you should feel that much attraction to it," Olivander mused. "Interesting, very interesting."

Dudley paid for the wand and left the shop with Hagrid.

"Hagrid?" he asked yet again.

"Yes?"

"Is Olivander slightly mad?"

Hagrid thought about it.

"No, he's just a genius. Harry saved his life, you know."

Dudley shook his head. Harry seemed to have saved everyone's life at some point, he thought.

"Well, that's a story fer another time," Hagrid concluded.

"Okay. Hagrid?"

"What _now_?"

"Can I get an owl? Harry had one. But he's got a different one now."

"Sure, can' see why not. They're very useful, owls. Deliver yer post for yer."

"What shall I call her?" Dudley asked, after half an hour of indecision and Hagrid complaining about slow shoppers.

"I don' know, let's not think about it now, we'll be here all year with yer decision makin' skills."

Dudley nodded, but he smiled inwardly. _He_ was happy that he'd spent the time. He was confident that he'd made the right choice.

"What'll Mum and Dad do about their stuff?" he asked.

"Ah, I'll ge' someone smart ter sort tha' out for them," Hagrid said vaguely. "They migh' not have the best wands, but it'll be their own fault."

Dudley nodded and checked the date on his watch. It was the twenty-fifth of August. Only a week to go.

"Hagrid, how do I get there? Harry said he caught the train…"

"Nine an' three quarters, Dudley, that's all you need ter know. Nine an' three quarters," Hagrid said cryptically, and they went to fetch Vernon and Petunia.


	5. Almost Done with Privet Drive

**Hi, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'll send you all personalised replies soon. I hope you like this chapter. After this one they'll be getting the Hogwarts Express, so this is your last chance to say goodbye to Privet Drive! Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Hogwarts, the Dursleys, Privet Drive, Hagrid or any other idea or character I've used so far.**

"We could run," Vernon suggested, pacing the living room anxiously.

"They'll find us, Vernon," Petunia told him, standing by the window and craning her neck to see into next door's garden. "They have you-know-what on their side."

"You mean magic?" Dudley asked from his exercise bike in the corner. He'd resolved to lose as much weight as possible before school started.

Vernon and Petunia spun round to glare at him.

"How _dare _you use that word in our house?" Vernon exaggerated every syllable, fuming. "How _dare_ you?"

Dudley stepped off the exercise bike and began to slowly back out of the room.

"Vernon, dear, he didn't mean it!" Petunia protested as Vernon advanced on their son. "He was just making sure he understood!"

Vernon turned away, but pointed his finger at Dudley warningly.

"_Never _again," he said threateningly.

Two minutes later he resumed his frantic pacing and Dudley cautiously climbed back onto the exercise bike, his heart racing. His father hadn't spoken to him like that since he was eleven and they were fleeing Harry's letters.

"We could change our identities," Vernon suggested.

"It's no good," Petunia said. "They'll know."

"We could pretend we've died."

"No."

Vernon continued pacing in silence.

"We could go, and then we could cause so much trouble or pretend we're so bad at magic that they expel us," he said after a few seconds' thought. Petunia considered it.

"That might work," she agreed.

Dudley's heart leapt. So they might actually go? He supposed it would be easy to stay there once they'd arrived.

"Right," Vernon decided. "We'll do that. What rules are there that we can break?"

Dudley silently left the room and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. His new owl, which he had decided to call Amber, clucked at him as he entered.

"Hush," he whispered to her. His parents still hadn't realised that he had bought her, thanks to his artful draping of his new robes over her cage when they'd come back home. He closed the door after him and she hopped onto his arm out of the open door of her cage. He stroked her inky black feathers, which he suspected had been made that way by magic, and sat down on the desk.

"I'm going to write a letter to Harry now," he told her. "And then I'd like you to deliver it. Will you be able to?"

Amber head butted him gently as if to reprimand him for doubting her.

"Good." He transferred her from his arm to the desk and took out a piece of his best writing paper and a pen. The amber eyes that had inspired her name watched him intelligently.

_Dear Harry, _he wrote slowly,

_You'll never guess what's happened! Well, you might already know, but I'll tell you anyway._

_We got a letter from Hogwarts two days ago, and they said we'd been accepted. Then Hagrid (the giant who came for you) came and knocked the front door down (he seems to like doing that) and explained. Apparently magic can come later to some people, but we can still go to Hogwarts, because they've made arrangements for us. I think Mum and Dad are really angry though. They're downstairs, thinking of plans of how not to go._

_Thanks for the money, by the way. I know I said I was going to save it, but we went shopping in Diagon Alley yesterday (we slept at an inn called the Leaky Cauldron), and so I used it to buy my school supplies. I hope you don't mind. Mum and Dad ran away, so someone else is sorting their stuff out, but Hagrid says that their wands won't be as good as mind. Mine's great, though. It's made of oak, fourteen inches long and it's got a unicorn hair in it. I can't wait to be able to do magic with it! And I've got a broom as well! Hagrid said I should get a Cleansweep to start off with, so I did, but he says I can always get a better one when I can fly it. This owl's mine too- she's called Amber. Isn't she great?_

_What've you been doing? How's everything going?_

_I really can't wait to get to school, is there anything I need to know before I go? Hagrid said something about a platform nine and three quarters, but I don't get what that means. Do you know?_

_I hope you're OK and everything- please write back soon if you can._

_From Dudley_

Dudley stared at the letter for a while, wincing at his terrible handwriting and certain that he'd misspelt some words, courtesy of years of bunking off school. Amber shifted impatiently and he sighed and slipped it into an envelope. He wrote "Mr. H. Potter" on it in his best handwriting and stared at it for another few seconds. What if it rained when Amber was delivering it? Did he need to waterproof it? He'd never thought about it with Harry's owl, because that was probably protected from the rain with a spell or something. Just to be safe, he leapt off his chair, ran downstairs and grabbed a clear plastic food bag to put the letter in. Back in his room, he carefully wrapped it round the letter and wondered how exactly to tie it to Amber's leg. Harry's letters were always on parchment, which was easy to tie, and he'd always just put his in Harry's owl's beak, but what if that was bad for her? He decided that Harry would have told him if it was and handed the letter to Amber finally.

"Goodbye," he whispered as he opened the window. What if she didn't come back? He almost panicked then, but decided to think logically. Harry would send her back. And at least there was no chance of Petunia discovering her. He contemplated going back downstairs and doing some more exercise, but suddenly felt drained of energy. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and brushed his teeth, deciding to go to bed without dinner. Exhausted, he flopped onto his bed. Tomorrow was the twenty-eighth of August. Only four days of boredom before he went to Hogwarts. He couldn't wait.


	6. On His Way

**Sorry for the looong delay, everyone! All of the stuff I've ever written got lost when my computer died, and it's taken forever to get the motivation to rewrite it. I promise I won't leave it as long again!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I could come up with ideas like Harry Potter. But I can't. All JK Rowling's**

"Mum?" Dudley called uncertainly. It was eight o'clock in the morning of the first day of term. "Dad?"

There was no answer. Dudley cautiously walked across the landing and knocked on their bedroom's door. There was no answer. He slowly opened the door and turned the light on.

"Dad?"

Vernon Dursley was busy chaining himself to the wall while Petunia watched fearfully.

"What are you doing?" Dudley asked, shocked.

"We're not going!" Vernon said fiercely, wrapping yet another chain around his large waist. "If they can't make us leave the house then they'll give up! There's a spare chain there for you." He tried to point at the corner, but his arms were too tightly entangled.

"But Dad, I _want_ to go!" Dudley said, dismayed. "Mum?"

Petunia looked at the floor, and there were several seconds of silence.

"Vernon... I'm going," she whispered.

"No!" Vernon yelled through the key in his mouth. "WE ARE NOT GOING!"

"And you just try and stop me!" Dudley said back, finally losing his temper. "If you don't want to go, then that's your loss, but don't go inflicting your decision on me! I've already made so many wrong decisions, and done countless things that I couldn't regret more, and now I have this massive opportunity to actually do something with my life, and you're taking it away!"

Vernon's mouth dropped open and the key fell out of it.

"Dudley, you're bewitched! This isn't you! The old you would never say this! My son would never even think such things!"

"I am not bewitched! Or if I am then I'm not complaining, as it's making me a better person. I don't want to be the old me anymore! I was lost, beating up little kids for fun! And if your son would never even think of turning his life around, then I won't be your son anymore!" Slightly in shock, Dudley turned around and stormed out of the room. He walked back to his own room without hesitation, and then closed the door and fell onto the bed. He held back tears of anger. _Did I just say I'm not his son? _he wondered. _What am I doing? I'm throwing away everything I've ever known! Am I making the right decision?_ A quiet hoot sounded from the cage in the corner. He looked over, and amber eyes gazed back. _Yes, _he decided. _This is what I'm meant to do._

His decision made, Dudley turned towards his trunk and grabbed it with both hands, grunting slightly. Unsure of exactly what he'd need, he had thought it best to pack as much as he could. He dragged it to the stairs and allowed it to slide down the staircase, making a series of loud bangs. He heard Petunia scream. _They must think it's the wizards coming to collect them, _he thought with satisfaction. _They'll stay in there in hiding for ages before they realise I've gone. _He darted back to his room to retrieve Amber's cage.

"Come on, girl," he said happily. "It's time for a new start."

He hauled his possessions out of the front door, barely pausing to take a last look at the hall. With difficulty, he forced his trunk into the back of his new sports car (on of many eighteenth birthday presents), settled Amber's cage on the passenger seat, held in place by the seatbelt, and turned the ignition. He revved the engine a little.

"Well then, Amber," he muttered. "Let's go!"

He accelerated down Privet Drive, the engine roaring loudly- he wanted a dramatic exit. He checked the clock on the dashboard. Eight thirty- no amount of traffic could make him miss his train. _Harry, _he thought, _I'm on my way to your world._

With his heart racing, he turned the radio on full blast.

"_Sweet dreams are made of this..." _

He sang along, agreeing with the singer.


	7. Onto the Platform

**Hi again- hope you're enjoying the story! Please review to let me know what you think or how I can improve it!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is JK Rowling's.**

Dudley pushed his luggage trolley into King's Cross station uncertainly. Despite several frustrating traffic jams and difficulty parking, he had managed to get there without any major incidents. However, he was just beginning to feel lost. Where should he go? He pulled out his letter from Harry.

_Hi Dudley,_

_I'm glad you enjoyed the surprise. I was considering telling you that you had magic, but I thought it would be much more exciting if you found out from Hagrid. I hope he didn't quite make such a dramatic entrance as he did when he came for me though!_

_Try not to worry about Hogwarts. I won't lie and say that everyone there will be amazing, but I can honestly say that my days at Hogwarts were incredible, and I met hundreds of the best people I could ever have the good fortune to know. Getting there's easy enough- the entrance to the platform is the ticket barrier between platforms 9 and 10. If you look out, you should see some other witches and wizards using it- you can ask for help if you feel uncertain. Make sure to say hi to people- I met Ron and Hermione on the train on my first day._

_Everything's okay with me at the moment, thanks. It's a bit hectic trying to finish all of my Auror exams as well as completing my NEWTs though! Even though I learned loads when I was on the run, I still have no idea on most of the stuff. Hermione's helping me a lot, but I might have to visit Hogwarts a few times to get teachers to help- they tend not to get as stressed at me when I don't understand!_

_I love your owl- take care of her! A good owl will do almost anything for you, and can be your best companion sometimes. _

_Make sure you let me know how you get on, and I may be seeing you quite soon,_

_Harry_

That was all very well and good, Dudley thought, but what about the ticket barrier between platforms 9 and 10? Was he supposed to cast a spell on it? Well, there could be no harm in heading in that direction. He might meet some of the people Harry had mentioned, so he could get help finding his way onto the platform. Pushing the trolley in front of him, he set off.

Once on the platform, Dudley was still none the wiser. He couldn't see anyone remotely wizard-like, and he was beginning to wish that he'd sent Amber away before going to catch the train- he definitely looked strange carrying an owl in a cage. He hoped that people wouldn't think he was some sort of bird smuggler or something. He checked his watch. Ten thirty. Surely some people should be arriving now?

"Hello, Dudley," a dreamy voice said from behind him. He spun round, almost knocking Amber's cage off the trolley. A girl about his age with long blonde hair and bulbous blue eyes was smiling brightly, but dreamily at him.

"Erm... hello. Do I know you?" he asked. The girl was wearing a strange symbol around her neck, and she had a rather ugly flower behind her ear.

"Oh, no. I'm Luna Lovegood," the girl said happily. "Although some people call me Loony for some reason. I don't think it's very nice. But they've got much better since I helped your cousin so much. Harry's a great friend to me- you're so lucky to know him. I was in the year below him at Hogwarts. I'm meant to have left now, but I missed quite a lot of school when we were sorting things out after the war, so I'm going to be visiting quite often so I can pass some of the exams I didn't manage to finish. Did you know you have a Quicketyflop on your head?"

Dudley quickly looked up, shook his head vigorously and hit himself on the head. He couldn't tell anything was there. Luna looked at him sympathetically.

"Oh, you can't get rid of them like that. Daddy's working on a new spell to sort them out, but he's quite busy at the moment. He's writing a book, you know, about the war. Shall we go onto the platform?"

"Oh, erm... pleased to meet you, by the way," Dudley said belatedly. "I'm afraid I don't know how to get to the platform. Do you know?" He was still rather shaken by the idea that something might be on his head. He hoped that it wouldn't be too dangerous. Surely Harry would have mentioned it if it was important?

"It's quite easy, when you know how," Luna informed him. "Come on, follow me!"

She turned on her heel and pushed her trolley in front of her, the half ran, half skipped in the direction of the ticket barrier. Dudley uncertainly followed her... then stopped suddenly as she disappeared. She couldn't have just gone _through_ the barrier, could she? Bewildered, he glanced around. A fourteen-year-old girl with flowing silvery blonde hair floated towards him and smiled dazzlingly.

"'ello," she said with a strong French accent. "Are you going to 'Ogwarts?"

Dudley's mouth had fallen slightly open. She didn't seem entirely human. He swallowed.

"Yes," he finally said. "Do you know how to get on to the platform?"

"Yes, my sister's 'usband told me," Gabrielle said brightly. "I am 'ere on an exchange for a few months- it eez a project to 'elp ze wizarding community to grow closer after ze war. We walk through the barrier." She too turned around and walked in that direction, then seemed to vanish.

_I've got nothing to lose, _Dudley thought. He closed his eyes and ran towards the barrier, confident that he was being entirely stupid and was just about to hit a brick wall, quite literally. But suddenly, he was surrounded by different sounds- owls hooting, cats yowling, crying parents and excited chatter. A train stood on the platform.

"Hogwarts Express," Dudley read quietly. "I've made it."


End file.
